I went to posh schools (a minor prep school in Hampshire and then the second 'best' school in Adelaide). At university I was on the fringe of the political set, who went on to State and Federal politics. Beyond that, I spent (i.e. wasted) a solid decade and a half interacting with the Manchester Labour... Continue Reading →
Brian Bilston’s poem “Today’s Climate Forecast”
Brian Bilston nailing it, July 10 this year.
“Leaning in” – it’s easier, after all…
There's a new book called Fascist Yoga, which I am probably not going to read, but I am probably glad that it exists. Meanwhile
The centrist rally (see also “Love me, I’m a liberal”)
Saw this online and it made me laugh a bit - ymmv. See also Phil Ochs "love me, I'm a liberal". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cdqQ2BdgOA Blah blah "if you're middle of the road you get hit by the traffic in both directions" blah blah.
Brilliant analysis of modern conservatism – “so disgusted by the world it helped to make that….”
I can say brilliant because it wasn't me. Recently I posted a quote by John Kenneth Galbraith And a friend I respect (have never met - this is the 21st century) replied with a typical (for this person) succinct and incisive comment. So spot-on it hurts. Although not as much as modern “Conservatism” does. Key... Continue Reading →
Fish, lakes, trawlers, men, guns, banks…
A few years ago I did a gushing review (this is unusual for me) of an academic book (see previous brackets, only more so). It was a book about "Energy Fables" and how power relations are buried in the assumptions of various "common sense" phrases like "low-hanging fruit" and the "energy trilemma." I don't think... Continue Reading →
Octavia Butler’s words of wisdom
I absolutely loved The Parable of the Sower - need to read the sequel... “Choose your leaderswith wisdom and forethought.To be led by a cowardis to be controlledby all that the coward fears.To be led by a foolis to be ledby the opportunistswho control the fool.To be led by a thiefis to offer upyour most... Continue Reading →
Hold on, we’re in the… ceneocene
When everyone is trying to make periodisations (Anthropocene, Trumpocene, Capitlocene, Chthulocene, Whatsmycene) It is surely the Ceneocene? Sadly, it does seem someone has beaten me to the punch. But wait! There’s more! The Cenes I’ve detailed are but a few of the many Cenes that have percolated to the surface of the junction between science,... Continue Reading →
Ensloppification of everything
We are so fubarred. It is bad enough that people believe what they read on the Internet (other than this site, which should obviously be worshipped unthinkingly). But now people have got so idle/credulous that they accept AI slop, without even looking at any actual pages...
ANYTHING can be recuperated – Nuclear war to sell cordial…
It still shocks me. You have to have a grudging admiration (1) for a system of control that is able to turn ANYTHING into an opportunity to do the most important thing in the modern world - to Sell More Stuff. There's an advert for Ribena on Youtube. There's the usual graphics of Sweet Innocent... Continue Reading →